At Field Day this year we ran all stations QRP. It seemed to work just fine on SSB and we made large amounts of contacts. We even made a contact on 80M at about 12:00PM to New York(from Michigan) running 5W to a trap vertical with no radials. 73 de Paul, AB8HM

Yes, QRP on SSB is great fun. QRP DXing on AM is even more fun! My most successful band for SSB is 28MHz where with 1W pep and a wire dipole I've managed 5 continents and goodness knows how many DXCC countries. On AM (try 29-29.1MHz) I've only managed 3 countries with 5W so far (W,VE and UT).

Yes I have used QRP SSB in several contests including the ARRL International DX Contest. I was the Division and Section high score in 1998. This year I managed 365 contacts, mostly 20, 15 and 10 with a few on 40. I have also operated in Sweepstakes for the last three years and have had no trouble earning one of the pins each year. Equipment is modest, Kenwood TS670 and a TS120 - sometimes I use a TS440 with an attenuator. Antennas are also modest, a Hygain TH3 MK4 at 11 meters and an R7, R5 and 4BTV Verticals. QRP SSB works for me.

I worked nearly 200 countries SSB with a Ten-Tec Argonaut.No problem, no big deal. I will give you a tip for QRP SSB DX success. It is more inportant for the dx station to know you are QRP than your call. If the dx stations have a clue you are in the pile up, they will work you. Figure this out. The other QRP SSB operators will know exactly what I know about. It is not a fact CW is better, only a rumor. Start thinking SSB is just fine and you will eventually do just fine. I treasure my experience in learning how to succeed with SSB. It is easier than CW. Maybe when the CW kit manufactures start selling SSB rigs the rumors will change. Another tip, you will learn to know more than a little about propagation. Read some good books and start paying attention to when the bands are open to differant parts of the world. I was impressed by what the DX stations knew about this sort of thing. I saw the reason of why I should learn propagation from them. I think it would be easier to learn today with such things that are available on the internet and packet clusters. Learn to get the jump on the DX, by the time you read about it on the cluster you will find a pile up. Learn the operating habits of the DX stations and pounce on them and be licking the stamps on your qsl cards before the cluster crowd shows up. SSB only works as good as you work.I hope my next fifty years on the air will be as much fun and the last. Vic AD8K

I have done it using a HF6V tuned as best as I could.Have had most of the QSO's on 20 meters. but I can remember a time when I had a 60ft wire up in a tree and heard a guy on 80meters who was about 500miles away. I went back to him and we talked for about 1/2 hour and he had a good signal on me. Then I realized I had the 706 on the lowest power setting. About 5 watts peak.

You want to talk about QRP SSB? I just worked the 10m ARRL contest using an 'Eagle Spitfire 454' 10m SSB/AM/FM WALKIE-TALKIE, with a 2.5 foot rubber-duckie type, base loaded whip antenna mounted to the HT with a BNC connector. The radio typically puts out about 3 watts, and standing in my driveway (albeit in the Decemeber cold weather), I netted a few DX signal reports, including a German and an Italian station!!! This was not with a QRP radio hooked up to a beam or quad, but with a simple walkie-talkie whip. To me, being licensed since 1977, there has been no greater thrill thus far than spanning the ocean with a diminutive, little, handheld unit! I was not able to work anything with the small, 8" whip that comes with the radio, but as soon as I attached an extended whip, it worked great! I highly recommend this radio if you are a QRP enthusiast on 10m. Unfortunately, it does not come with CW though.

In reply, a fellow amateur friend of mine just picked one up for me recently from a small ham radio retailer in Brunswick, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland) called NOARD. We're from Ohio, so he picked it up in person. The store is run by Rick, K8SCI, who is just the nicest, and one of the most knowledgeable hams in the world. He is one of those 'old timers' who provides great personal service and advice on the hobby and cares. I have no idea who makes the antenna... it just says "made in Korea" on the base. I don't have the store's telephone number, but if you e-mail or contact K8SCI, i'm sure he can ship one out to you, and/or tell you more about it.

I thinks to sum it up - Yes you can work the planet with QRP. However with 5 watts you are at the mercy of conditions. If conditions are good - you make contacts. If conditions are not good you dont.

If you would like to turn on you rig and contact a particualr station or maintain a schedule nightly - you are probably going to have some problems with QRP.

If you want to turn on your rig and just contact somone - you probably will with QRP if the conditions and noise level cooperate. Especially around "Grey line time of day".

If you want to maintian a schedule with a friend nightly - you will find yourself reaching for more power most of the time. On occasion you may be able to make the schedule on QRP power but not often.

QRP to me is a catch as catch can mode of communication. its lots of fun. I have a 100 watt rig with a lower power SGC2020 right next to it. Im always using the 2020 to see if lower power can get thorugh. In short to be honest - 5 watts can perform like 100 watts if eveything is perfect - but that does not happen when you want it to. It happens when Mother nature feels like it. The rest of the time 5 watts performes like 5 watts.

I have owned my FT-817 for three weeks now. I bought it thinking that I would use it mainly for CW but have been pleasently suprised to find how effective it has been with SSB. I have been very pleased with the many 53 to 55 reports that I recieve. Working part time at it I have worked 32 countries in 3 weeks. Mainly 10-20M SSB. I have not had much luck busting pileups but as mentioned previously the DX seem to like to work QRP's and I don't try to fight 40M broadcast stations. To sum it up, I am working all the stations that I can hear clearly. I am very pleased!

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